Fieldwork Opportunity

Monday March 27 - Saturday April 1

Excavations at Lower Brambly I (18ST51) in Chaptico, St. Mary's County
Principal Investigator  - Dr Julia King of St. Mary's College of Maryland

This work will follow up on activities performed by ASM volunteers and others last December.  During the first half of February, Tim Horsley of the University of Northern Illinois conducted with the assistance Brent Chippendale conducted a remote sensing survey of the site.  Focus of the field work beginning on March 27 will be to place 5x5-foot squares on those anomalies that Horsley found.

Lower  Brambly I is a 20-acre shell midden located on private property at the conjunction of the Potomac and Wicomico Rivers.  It is believed that this site is the location of the Indian town Secomocomoco mapped by Captain John Smith in 1608.

Because the site is threatened by extraordinary storm events and normal tidal activity it is one of the three sites chosen for survey and testing under the grant provided to ASM through the Maryland Historical Trust's grant from the National Park Service pertaining to the effects of Hurricane Sandy.

People interested in taking part should contact Julia King at jking@smcm.edu to receive an information and registration packet.

NOAA Public Comment Meetings

In October 2015, NOAA announced its intent to designate a new national marine sanctuary to help conserve nationally-significant shipwrecks and related maritime heritage resources in Maryland. Following a public comment period last year, NOAA has developed a detailed analysis for a proposed national marine sanctuary to protect Mallows Bay-Potomac River, a maritime heritage resource area along the Potomac River, about 40 miles south of Washington, D.C.  The public now has an  opportunity to review the proposed alternative and provide input.  (for more on proposed alternatives) 

Mallow's Bay
Photo courtesy of National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

CCASM and the Archaeological Society of Maryland, Inc have written letters of support for the 52-square mile section of the Potomac designated in Alternative C.

But our continued help is needed to make the Sanctuary a reality. 

NOAA has scheduled two public meetings to solicit public comments for the proposed new sanctuary.  We are urged to attend and participate in these meetings.  The meetings will be held

• Tuesday,  March 7, 2017  (6-9 pm)
  Charles County Government Building
  200 Baltimore Street
  La Plata, Maryland   map
   
• Thursday,  March 9, 2017  (6-9 pm)
  Anne Arundel Community College
  Center for Applied Learning and Technology (CALT) Building (Room 100),
  101 College Parkway,
  Arnold, MD 21012   map

We can also submit electronic public comments via the Federal eRulemaking Portal.
Click the "Comment Now!" icon, complete the required fields, and enter or attach your comments. 
Comments must be received by March 31, 2017.

March 5 Outreach Committee Meeting

On March 5 Elsie, Barbara, Peggy, Mike, Doug, Gabi, Sami, and Carol reviewed the "Archaeologists Dig for Clues" activity.  Gabi will lead the activity on March 11 at the Potomac Library, and Sami will lead it on March 25 at the Waldorf West Library.  We had fun putting this together.

Too bad no photo was taken of us putting together the full-size mock up for the display at the LaPlata Library.   Even though we might have looked a little chaotic, surprisingly everything worked out.  The display will be up for the month of April.  The theme for Archaeology Month is "At the Water's Edge: Our Past on the Brink".

Finding Josiah Henson

Julia King

At CCASM's February 9th meeting Dr Julia King of Saint Mary's College discussed “Finding Josiah Henson: How Charles County Shaped the Life of this Conductor on the Underground Railroad“.

Josiah Henson was an escaped slave who was active in the underground railroad and founded a settlement in Canada for other fugitive slave.  His life was one of the inspirations for Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin.

In 1796 or shortly thereafter, he was born a slave on a plantation now know as La Grange, near present day La Plata.  Although he left La Grange at about age 9, the brutality of slavery he experienced there in his formative years greatly impacted his later life.

Josiah Henson

With support from Mr. L. Gordon Croft, a Charles County native, archaeologists from St. Mary's College of Maryland are beginning to piece together the details of Henson's early life through a focus on his birthplace and boyhood home.  

Last summer Dr King and students from Saint Mary's College and the College of Southern Maryland, uncovered the location of the 18th century slave quarter at La Grange.  The historic artifacts they found associated with the plantation house covered a period of over 200 years while the artifacts associated with the slave quarter dated to the late 18th and early 19th centuries only.  Originally the front of La Grange faced towards Port Tobacco, and the slave quarter was behind the house.  Sometime around 1830 the house was changed so it faced towards present day La Plata.  This meant that the original slave quarter would then have been located in the front yard.  It is believed that the original slave quarter was abandoned at that time, and new slave quarters erected elsewhere on the property.

Dr. Julia King is a Professor of Anthropology at Saint Mary's College of Maryland and has talked to CCASM multiple times about her work in Charles County.

Attendance: 24

Thanks to Elsie for providing this posting and to Barbara for the group photo.

 

Finding Josiah Henson: 
How Charles County Shaped the Life of this Conductor on the Underground Railroad

Josiah Henson spent his early years on a plantation in Charles County, where he witnessed the brutality of slavery even as he developed an extraordinary humanity.  With support from Mr. L. Gordon Croft, a Charles County native, archaeologists from St. Mary's College of Maryland are beginning to piece together the details of Henson's early life through a focus on his birthplace and boyhood home.

 

February Outreach Committee Meeting

At the February 5 CCASM Outreach Committee meeting Elsie, Barbara, Mike, Doug, and Gabi shared the "clue" boxes they had assembled for the "Archaeologists Dig for Clues" activity to be used for two children's sessions in March at the Potomac and Waldorf West Libraries.  Gabi and Sami will lead the activities.

Checking out the contents of one "clue" box

A proposed layout for the display at the LaPlata Library for the month of April was used to help visualize what we could do and what we needed to do.  April is Maryland Archaeology Month, and the theme is "At the Water's Edge: Our Past on the Brink".

Anyone with ideas who would like to help is welcome to participate.